Global Health Delivery

Research

The Global Health Delivery Project (GHD) at Harvard is a collaboration between Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Business School. Founded in 2007 by Harvard University professors Paul Farmer and Michael Porter, with current World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim, GHD investigates the management of disease treatment and prevention by addressing the significant global health “delivery gap” that, despite unprecedented new financial resources and medical advances, prevents care from consistently reaching patients who need it. GHD disseminates this knowledge through scholarly publications, educational opportunities, and online communities of practice on GHDonline.org. GHD aims to train current and future leaders in health care delivery.

GHD’s products include:

Scholarly Publications

GHD Case Study Collection: GHD has developed more than 30 Harvard Business School-style teaching cases with accompanying guides for instructors that form the foundation for a range of health care delivery courses. Cases capture real-life scenarios and explore how leaders implement value-based principles. In 2014, new cases on universal health care and nutrition policy debuted at the Ministerial Leadership in Health program, a joint initiative of Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School. Cases and their corresponding teaching notes, topical concept notes, a glossary, and an in-depth curriculum guide for instructors are available at no cost online through Harvard Business Publishing. Cases are also available for download directly at GHDonline.org/cases.

GHD Research: GHD uses mixed-methods research techniques—including the creation of research case studies—to explore the impact of global health initiatives on national health systems with commissions from the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. GHD has developed strategic frameworks to guide program managers in resource-limited settings in maximizing program value, defined as patient outcomes per dollar spent.

Education

Global Health Delivery Intensive Program: GHD’s Global Health Delivery Intensive (GHDI) summer program is rigorous three-week session with courses in epidemiology, management science, and health care delivery. GHDI is a key component of GHD’s efforts to expand the educational opportunities in global health delivery and convene a new cadre of health professionals trained in the major concepts and skills in delivering value-based health care.

Faculty Network: The GHD Faculty Network is a group of educators teaching the GHD cases in their schools of business, medicine, nursing, and public health. In July 2012, GHD welcomed ten faculty members from nine countries for an inaugural training workshop. The network now includes over twenty members from fifteen countries. There is no cost to join.

Online Collaboration

GHDonline.org: GHDonline.org is a virtual professional community platform that hosts communities for health care professionals to share expertise and collaborate. Thirteen public and more than 80 private communities focus on global health issues and diseases; several private forums support working groups for various organizations and projects. GHDonline hosts one week virtual conferences open to the public that convene thought leaders around a specific, cross-community topic and publishes peer-reviewed Discussion Briefs—two-page summaries of the most active and rich discussions.

Clinical Resources: GHDonline.org partners with UpToDate, Inc.® —a leading international electronic clinical information resource—to manage a grant program in which applicants from resource-limited settings can apply for free annual subscriptions. Select journal article summaries are also available on GHDonline via a partnership with JournalWatch.